Our Response To The Ridiculous Huffington Post Article, "Inside The Right-Wing Movement To Boost Untraceable ‘Ghost Guns’"
The author Lila Hassan and the Huff Post committed willful acts of dishonesty, hyperbole, and misrepresentation.
Today, the Huffington Post published a highly misleading article written by Lila Hassan entitled, Inside The Right-Wing Movement To Boost Untraceable ‘Ghost Guns.’ The article attempts to paint Guns N’ Bitcoin, and our freedom tech conference, Bear Arms N’ Bitcoin, as some far-Right movement that encourages illegal acts. Nothing could be further from the truth! The article is ridiculous.
Lila Hassan interviewed our founder, Ragnar Lifthrasir via email. She purposely didn’t quote sections of the interview that disproved her false narrative about us, our founder, and the broader 3D printed gun community.
For example, Lila wrote, “Do you identify with any far-right movements? Boogaloo, Proud Boys, etc.?” Ragnar responded,
“I absolutely do not identify with any far-right movements. I do not identify with Boogaloo or the Proud Boys. I do not identify with any far-left groups, such as Antifa. My wife is an immigrant from China. We consider ourselves politically disillusioned and pro 1st and 2nd Amendments.”
However, in the published article, Lila only published part of the quote.
Lila and the Huff Post completely failed in include this crucial question and its answer:
Are you aware of the popularity of ghost guns and Bitcoin among groups considered domestic extremists - if so, are you worried that your conference and overall educational advocacy are inspiring potential future acts of violence?
Ghost guns and Bitcoin are popular with people from all walks of life, regardless of political ideology, race, gender, or anything else. I’m not aware of ghost guns and Bitcoin’s popularity with any extremist groups. I wholeheartedly disavow any extremist groups, whether on the Right or the Left. All my work is focused on ordinary, peaceful people.
Read the full text of the interview below and judge for yourself.
Full Text of Interview With Ragnar Lifthrasir
To start off, what is your response to critics of ghost guns who view them as threats to public safety that escape current firearms regulations?
Ghost guns do not escape current firearms regulations. DIY and 3D printed guns are legal for non-prohibited persons to make and own. All guns, ghost guns included, can harm others. When several men are attacking a woman or a fascist government oppresses its citizens, guns are precisely what that woman and those citizens want to defend themselves from a more powerful adversary.
The greatest beneficiary of ghost guns are minorities and those of low socioeconomic status. These groups often live in the highest crime areas where they need guns to protect themselves from violent criminals. However, the inner cities have the lowest availability of firearms, at the highest cost, and with the most onerous legal restrictions. Because ghost guns are affordable to build and any non-prohibited person can make them, ghost guns are the best legal way for minorities and those of low socioeconomic status to obtain and possess firearms for self-defense. Those who seek to stop the legal ownership of ghost guns are harming the most vulnerable groups in the U.S.
What do you make of the pending ATF rulemaking and proposed changes? Copying a link here in case helpful https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/definition-frame-or- receiver/submit-
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The pending ATF rulemaking and proposed changes to “ghost guns” is a gross violation of the 2nd Amendment and the right to self-defense. I predict federal courts will overturn it.
Do you identify with any far-right movements? Boogaloo, Proud Boys, etc.?
I absolutely do not identify with any far-right movements. I do not identify with Boogaloo or the Proud Boys. I do not identify with any far-left groups, such as Antifa. My wife is an immigrant from China. We consider ourselves politically disillusioned and pro 1st and 2nd Amendments.
Are you aware of the popularity of ghost guns and Bitcoin among groups considered domestic extremists - if so, are you worried that your conference and overall educational advocacy are inspiring potential future acts of violence?
Ghost guns and Bitcoin are popular with people from all walks of life, regardless of political ideology, race, gender, or anything else. I’m not aware of ghost guns and Bitcoin’s popularity with any extremist groups. I wholeheartedly disavow any extremist groups, whether on the Right or the Left. All my work is focused on ordinary, peaceful people.
Guns are merely a tool people can use for good and evil. If you hamper knowledge of guns, you prevent their use for good purposes. For example, Myanmar recently had a coup from their fascist government, and their military reportedly captured several FGC-9s the rebels were using:
3D-printed guns are being used to fight fascism. What chance would the anti-fascists have if they didn’t have 3D-printed weapons? Has our conference helped those fighting fascism in Mynamar? If so, I think most would agree that’s a good thing.
For the 2021 conference, I saw a lineup that included imagery of Boogaloo members - are you aware of their presence at conferences, and what do you make of that? Do you vet backgrounds before asking speakers to join the conference?
I’m not aware of any Boogaloo members at our 2021 conference. If they were wearing Hawaiian shirts, it was most likely as a joke. Also, wearing tactical gear at a gun range is common, often a matter of safety, not a political statement.
We vet speakers’ backgrounds before asking them to join the conference. None of our speakers are members of any extremist groups, either on the Left or the Right.
The Bear Arms N’ Bitcoin Freedom Technology purposely has an open-door policy so that potentially marginalized groups or those not prevalent in the firearm and crypto space feel welcome. That means that some attendees could be controversial. But we think we’ve struck the right balance. Of course, if we are made aware that an individual was attending our event which was a suspected terrorist, we would immediately contact law enforcement, whether that person is on the political Left or the Right.
I’d like to quote a tweet we put out on November 8, 2021:
This tweet is also our conference Code of Conduct Statement found on our home page.
I understand cryptocurrency is far more popular among your circle mainly for the purposes of annonymizing [sic] transactions, is that correct? Why the need to anonymize transactions? How do you respond to gun safety/pro-regulation advocates who say that these methods thwart law enforcement efforts to crack down on crime?
We live in interesting times concerning law enforcement. On the Left, you see opposition to law enforcement because of abuses against minorities. On the Right, you see resistance from the lack of action by L.E. during the Black Lives Matter riots. So now, people from both sides of the political spectrum seek ways to protect themselves from police overreach, and anonymous transactions are growing in use.
Privacy is a human right. Those who seek to violate it have the burden of proof to justify it. If we removed all anonymity, we could have close to zero crime, but we would live in an absolute prison state like North Korea.
Anonymity, in general, protects vulnerable people. These could be members of the LGBTQ community, political dissidents, journalists, or others. We go to great lengths to ensure that everyone who attends our conference will feel safe. Our registration and payment policy are as follows:
We encourage you to buy your ticket with bitcoin or Monero, use a pseudonym and an email address without personally identifying information, or even better, an email address you created solely for this event. We will check you into the event with the email address you used to purchase the ticket(s). We will not have a list of names or pseudonyms (and thus we will not ask for I.D.).
If you pay with bitcoin or Monero, you don’t need to enter a billing address at checkout. For the mailing address, you can make up an address since your ticket won’t be mailed.
If a malicious actor, governmental or private, gains access to our database of attendees, then those who paid with cryptocurrency and didn’t give their real name will be protected. This is
because their home address and real identity don’t exist on our servers. I’m not aware of any other conference that protects the privacy of its participants as we do.
Is there anything I didn't ask you that you think is important to know?
I started Guns N’ Bitcoin because firearms and crypto have drastically affected my life. My father shot himself when I was 16 years old. For almost a decade, I had nightmares, as if I watched it happen. Eventually, I got better and bought my first gun. Since then, I’ve wanted to help others get comfortable with firearms, partly from my compassion for survivors of crimes committed with firearms.
I graduated from Columbia with a master’s in real estate development in 2009, at the height of the real estate financial crisis. After Columbia, I couldn’t find a job. I was broke. Then I discovered Bitcoin in 2011. With Bitcoin’s price appreciation, I was able to climb out of poverty and have the resources to put into an annual event.
I know that crypto and firearms can be fun and improve lives if handled prudently.
Conclusion
The Huff Post article demonstrates that the mainstream media will say and do anything to prevent individuals from exercising their right to self-defense, free speech, and privacy.
Additionally, we want to reiterate that Guns N’ Bitcoin is not a far-Right or any other politically affiliated organization.
We’re on the right side of history by supporting the 1st and 2nd Amendments. The Huff Post and Ms. Hassan are on the wrong side for opposing these human rights.
Lies run sprints, but the truth runs marathons.